engine and drivetrain any 240z drivers here..what are your opinions?

[Guest Anonymous]

I have a chance to pick up a real clean example '72 for little money. As a kid my dad bought a '77 280 that was a sweet car I fondly remember the sounds it made and was pretty fast. I am partial however to the early ones....they seem really chaep compared to the E30M3 I recently sold! This review got me excited:

"A sexy looking, powerful,able to take great punishment and a reliable machine for budget gourmets.

What things have gone wrong with the car?

This 240Z was driven just on weekends, I purchased the car in 1990 from an attorney, who had the car for 15 years, he had bought it from his best friend, the original owner. Actually, my car was manufactured in 1969. The car had fine compression, but the head gasket appeared to have at one time leaked a bit, so rather than test it, I had a mechanic replace it. The head gasket never leaked again.

General comments?

This is one fine driving machine, white exterior, sleek long nose, high kamm back end, radical side profile. After the first month, I installed 15x7 inch wide rims, zero offset and 215/60/15 tires and a 1 inch front sway bar and 7/8 inch rear sway bar. Fantastic handling was the result, more taut than a good condition 1988 BMW M3, maybe not as communicative, but the body rolled less. I have driven both. Handling good enough for autocrossing and driving on most free way on-ramps at double the posted speed limit (up to 35 mph= 70 mph) amazing for an inexpensive car. Dead reliable, would get a squeal from the tires on an up shift to 3rd gear at 5500 rpms with the 215/60/15 tires. After I had the engine rebuilt with hi-performance cam, 280z valves, stock carburetor headers, low restriction exhaust, and a shaved flywheel, 3.90 rear end from a 1980 280zx and a 5 speed from a 280Z, it would pull 7400 rpms in 3rd gear with octane booster, run right past 6500 rpms in 4th gear, pulling like an electric motor. Easy to maintain motor, with a power band from 4500 rpms to 6500+ rpms. 20miles per gallon as is. Dream: Triple side draft webers would be the cream.

Easily a super bargain. There is not enough room to tell you about the Tokico 5 way adjustable Illumina shock absorbers and matching springs... just delicious on the track or auto cross."

[Guest Anonymous]

Those are neat cars, I think. The value varies wildly from a run of the mill car to a really nice one, so maybe that is one you might actually not lose money on by restoring. Nissan actually bought, refurbished and sold again a bunch of the early cars a couple years ago.

[Guest Anonymous]

i used to build 240's and old 510's up for street racing back in my late teens. really solid performance, easy to maintain, large range of after-market parts and possible configurations. They also sell for a bundle in the right parts of the country (like CA). We used to run 280 blocks with the e81 240 head on them and anywhere from the stock su carbs (kinda crappy) to duel mikuni or triple weber set-ups. paired with a mild cam, port and polish and rear-end upgrade you could barely hook up with slicks in 1st and all of it cost a fraction of what you would spend on stock '02 parts especially if you don't mind getting a little dirty doing the work yourself. Handling is excellent even stock but with a roll bar added along with sway bar upgrades and decent shocks you can easily take a 90 degree turn at around 50. if you have access to one for cheap i'd swoop it up. well worth the investment and a lot of fun to tweak/drive

[Guest Anonymous]

it was a blast, with dual Hitachi carbs, sucked gas

but the response was instant, high revving engine,

great syle, that thing was very quick. At 100 you

start getting airborne though, so air dams are a

must! They are really great cars, uhmm I have

seen some nice ones at collectors.com

[Guest Anonymous]

if you paint it red you will spend a lot of time thinking, "wow, they really copied the Ferarri" on a lot of details. not that that is a bad thing... far from it id like to get one to put a ford 302 smallblock in.. i bet it weighs no more than the stock datsun six (thats an iron block right?) and can make 300+++hp easy. just a thought!! oh yah, my neighbor had all Konis, ST springs, urethane bushes throughout, new porsche guards red paint, etc, etc, and had at one point tried to GIVE me the car... still kickin myself to this day i didnt take it but was about to leave for college in the '87 GLI and would have had nowhere to put it...

-Rob

[Guest Anonymous]

I've seen a few with 302's or 305's in them but you run into problems with structural integrity... sort of like putting an e28 m5 3.5 in an '02 (just because I seriously considered doing this for a while:)

[Guest Anonymous]

a 650hp SBC is going to rip the shit out of whatever you put it in... a nice 250-300hp ford 302 (that costs $1600 for a brand NEW motor) and only weighs about 425lbs would add a nice fat V8 torque curve and not tear stuff up too much... there was a 450hp SBC-powered 240Z running around San Hose that i saw a few times(had been in a few magazines,,, thats how i recognized it).... the guy looked happy.

-Rob

[Guest Anonymous]

...I have one with 60K original miles on it and came over on the first shipment. The original owner was the second person to take delivery at the dealership near Palos Verdes. As many cars as I have owned -- and you know what I mean -- this is the only car I haven't sold quickly. I have owned this car almost 8 years...

I love this car and it only comes out on rare occasions. I have taken it to the Nissan/Datsun meet a couple of times.

They are great... so, do it and say you've "been there and done that" too!

Brian

[Guest Anonymous]

Had a 73, with 72 su's. The 72 was the best year imho. They are very reliable confortable and a hoot to drive.

[Guest Anonymous]

I used to own a '72 204z.(back in 1980) Bought it for $1200. it was a wicked looking greenish yellow and a ton of FUN to drive & work on!

I put a nicely balanced motor with triple weber sidedrafts (match ported intakes), a 288 cam and a dual exhaust. Each muffler had to tips so 4 in total. First motor I ever assembled by myself, just me & a manual & a full weekend. 245x50 tires on some Carrol Shelby knock off wheels. repainted a bright white enamel paint ('76 corvette white with 3 drops of indigo blue to make it look wet all the time)air dam to keep the nose down & a Roll cage to stiffen things up. That car cornered like there was Elmers glue on the tires. (or at least in my mind)I loved that car! would I buy another ? in a New York minute!!

Scarab--My friend had a '72 Z car with a 327 motor, he called it a Scarab, he worked in a auto-parts store some he could afford all the hi-Po mods. I think he was crankin out about over 300 hp's (or so he said) All I knew was that when he brought it over to my garage. I spent hours trying to re-weld & strenthen the unibody around the motor mounts ...'cause that motor was actually attempting to twist & rip itself right out of the engine bay! One day after installing a new differential, we forgot to re-install the leather strap that helps hold the differential neck down. started it up & WHAM the driveshaft snapped & the Differential neck was sticken up thru the spare wheel well ! nice torque.

I would seriously consider buying another one. Classic lines, fun to drive & work on. Lots of bang for your buck. Go for it or sell it to me

Funny how I can't remember anything my wife tells me to pick up at the store on the way home from work but I can remember EVERY detail about that car from 24 years ago.

thnx for the bandwidth

John L

Lafayette Hill PA

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.zeebuck.com/02bc/index.htm

thing to beware of. Otherwise, mechanicals are as simple as an '02, and even cheaper for parts. Very reliable car. I love the 240Z interior, especially the dash.

Back in '87-'88 I had a '73 with '72 SU carbs. It was fast and fun, though it disintegrated right before my eyes - the backs of the body panels were **bare** steel in many areas (like the roof)! But I was young and stupid and was stretching to buy a cheap-o rustbucket to start with (all my friends and I were into 510s - I had to one-up them!) I still got my money out of it in the end, despite the huge **new** hole in the passenger's floor...

I don't recall the Z handling as well as my 2002, but then I only ever had crappy tires on the Z. I am sure their suspension design was not as subtly refined as the BMW, but the basic layout is identical (mac stuts front and semi trailing arms rear) and the 240Z was lower and had rack and pinion steering, so the raw materials are there to make a handling monster.

I still love 240Zs, but they make '02s look like they are made of stainless steel. Still, everybody should own one at least once. ;-)

regards,

Zenon

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://servinitup.com/videos/240z.mpeg

one heck of a Z

this is whats in it with a SC

here is the website: http://servinitup.com/240z.shtml

if you look hard enough you may be able to find a few videos of this car racing an R1 a Viper and doing donuts.

[Guest Anonymous]

http://www.datnet.org/new/files/240ZvsR1.mpeg

http://www.datnet.org/new/files/Darius-240Z-sideways.mpg

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

It's a beauty with dual Mikunis, hotter cam, slightly bored over, and all the right suspension work. I couldn't stop smiling the whole drive. It felt as low and nimble as my old Miata autocrosser but was a real kick because it actually had torque! With nice tight steering and a dialed suspension, that old Z felt like it was begging for a race track. Just from that one drive I decided I will own one someday for sure...